Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is hosting a press conference at the Treasury Department on Monday to detail what the Trump administration has characterized as an "economic D-Day" for Iran. This latest initiative is part of an ongoing strategy to leverage economic tools to pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and conclude a conflict that has now entered its sixth month, despite initial administration projections that it would last only four to six weeks.
Bessent is expected to expand the existing sanctions framework, introducing the threat of more rigorous secondary sanctions against any countries or entities that engage in business with Iran. In a statement, Bessent emphasized that any facilitator supporting the current regime is effectively placing a target on its own back, adding that the Treasury will continue to expose these networks and sever their access to the U.S. financial system. Writing in the Financial Times on Sunday, Bessent described the move as the "single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," claiming the administration has already dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly all of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program.
President Trump echoed this sentiment on Truth Social, declaring on Monday morning that "IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!" This assertion comes despite Iran’s persistent resistance to U.S. military operations. As part of the new enforcement measures, the Treasury Department has designated Shahr Bank and two Dubai-based exchange houses, Titan Exchange and Alps International, for their roles in helping Shahr Bank retrieve oil revenue for the National Iranian Oil Company and Naftiran Intertrade Co. Several Iranian nationals were also named, including Shahr Bank employee Saeed Ghasempour, who is accused of coordinating currency conversions with Russia’s VTB Bank, along with staff members from the Iran-based Farab Soroush Afagh Qeshm.
Additionally, the department targeted a network of shell companies operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai. Separately, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned former Fly Baghdad CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani for allegedly facilitating the movement of fighters, weapons, and funds to regional militia groups for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, although the Treasury had previously removed Fly Baghdad from its sanctions list earlier in the week. Despite decades of U.S. sanctions, Tehran has frequently utilized various methods to evade international financial restrictions.
"President Trump has dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program," Bessent wrote in the Financial Times on Sunday. "We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshal
